Jose Quintana Struggles Again in Loss To Braves on Friday

The Mets came home early to face the Braves after taking two games from the Cardinals in St. Louis.

Jose Quintana took the bump on Friday, looking to win a fourth straight game against the Braves and rebound after a miserable start against the Rays.

Unfortunately for the lefty, the start wasn’t much better. He made it five innings at home, but allowed four earned runs to Atlanta, all via the home run.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson took the veteran deep, putting the Mets in a 4-0 hole they would never climb out of.

“It wasn’t good,” Quintana told the media postgame. “I think after two outs the game changed. … It’s frustrating because a lot feels great and (I’m) throwing the ball well against a pretty good lineup. After two outs everything changed, big damage. That’s pretty bad”

Homers have been a problem for Quintana early in the 2024 season. He’s allowed six in 41 1/3 innings, along with 46 hits and 25 earned runs. His ERA sits at 5.44 through eight starts.

Making matters worse, all of Quintana’s expected stats match his performance. His xBA against is .317, which is the bottom two percent of the league, and his xSLG is .517, which is in the bottom eight percent.

The only positive Quintana has in 2024 is his groundball percentage. But even with an above-average left side of the infield, it hasn’t been enough to prevent runs. In fact, his sinker hasn’t been effective, as batters are hitting .236 with a .400 slug against the pitch in 2024.

And the sinker is his best pitch. Every other weapon in his arsenal has been hit this season. Here are the batting average and slugging percentages against Quintana’s pitches in 2024:

Fastball: .304/.391
Curveball: .286/.429
Changeup: .292/.333
Slurve: .429/.857

Quintana’s struggles have been concerning. The lefty was an All-Star in 2022 before joining the Mets, but hasn’t been able to replicate the magic in Queens. With the emergence of Christian Scott, and the recovery of both Tylor Megill and Kodai Senga on the horizon, the Mets might have a hard decision to make with Quintana.

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